I am like a tree in a forest, full of leaves, blossoms and fruits. Birds come to eat and nest, and animals seek rest in its shade. Yet the tree does not know itself. It follows its own nature. It is as it is. (Ajahn Chah)
"Sunset over the Ocean"
I like the ocean so much, anytime but most especially at sunset. It is noisy and peaceful at the same time. It is immense, overwhelming and enveloping at the same time. It is a place where it is impossible to feel lonely. It is the expression of life. It is Planet Earth, it is where we live. I am but a single drop in the ocean of life. But when I am in the ocean, nobody can see the difference between this drop and this ocean. I am but a drop in the ocean AND I am the ocean. I am life. Here is a video of such a sunset over the Pacific Ocean, at Dillon Beach, Northern California, 100 km from San Francisco.
Get this video and more at MySpace.com
And here is a video montage of Michel Rivard's song, «Je voudrais voir la mer» (I'd like to see the sea), one of the most beautiful french song I have ever heard:
"Traveling around the world and meeting interesting people".
I went to Vietmam, the Philippines and Indonesia many times, regularly go to France, Mexico and sunny California with my wife. Here is a souvenir of our last trip to SF, a small video of the Golden Gate Bridge taken from Baker Beach in July 2006.
Get this video and more at MySpace.com
"Birds".
I am crazy about birds, their elegance, their looks and their behaviors. I like Canadian and white geese flying together in harmony in the Spring, when they pass by our place going North and in the Fall, when they go back south. I have many birdfeeders in my yard and cannot tire from looking at the birds coming there. And, I love Great Blue Herons; we have around the Montreal Island many nesting sites of this majestic bird. Below is a video of one Great Blue Heron I took at the Montreal Botanical Garden main pond on August 26, 2006. I took it with a Canon A70 photo camera and was very lucky to get that close to the bird. Hope you enjoy.
Erhu...Erhu...Erhu. An obsession ! hehe. Here is a very nice video of the supreme Min Huifen, playing Erquan Ying Yue (Moon reflecting on Two Springs, a great classic for erhu), to get you hooked .
Erquan Ying Yue
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Exchanging about music and how it can influence and better our lifes. For me, learning to play the Erhu has permitted to live "at last" in the "NOW" when I play, as well as to discover life principles that I can successfully apply to my work as well. For those interested to discuss in particular their experience with a Erhu, or any other Chinese music instrument for that matter, there is a very good specialized discussion forum for it at http://starvoid.proboards30.com/index.cgi
I also like very much the music of Catherine Duc. Hear for yourself. Visit her page.
About me:
I am a caucasian male who loves asian music, most particularly erhu music, an instrument I first learned to play with Shen Qi. Some of the pieces I can play relatively smoothly now are: Jasmine Flower (of course), Little Swallow, Moon River, Annie's song, Edelweiss, Amazing Grace, Danny Boy, Turn!Turn!Turn (to everything, there is a season, O mio babbino caro, Scarborough Fair, Auld Lang Syn and Stars. My favorite erhu players are Song Fei, Wang Guotong, Min Huifen, Shen Qi, Ma Xiaohui, Xiao Dong Wei, Weiwei Wuu, Yu Hongmei, Jiang Jianhua, Chen Min, Injei and Chen Jiebing.
Here is a flash jukebox presenting samples of my friend Wei Xiaodong's first CD. Do not hesitate to go to her page (link below) to learn more about her, her band and her music.
I have also a lot of Anime, JPOP and CPOP music. My favorite singer is the Japanese singer Chihiro Onitsuka, who had stopped her career in 2004, but is coming back this year (spring 2007). In the video below, She sings the song Memai (Vertigo)
What an impressive song and what a marvelous interpretation. Here is the English translation of what Chihiro sings for us:
I remember the nights I hid from something cruel and I get scared.
Hey, won't you keep smiling at me that way?
Leaning on your knee now, I pray the demons won't come.
Tell me it's all right.
Because you believe in me so strongly, as if it were a lie.
Your arms, your voice...
My dry ground is soaked by the rain.
I can't escape you;
you'll follow me wherever I know it so well I want to cry...
...I know it so well.
On this cruel road, if I become like a jewel,
Throw me into the fire.
Burdens will finally disappear.
Throw me away.
Your arms, your voice, your back, haunt me.
I won't even notice.
How far can you let me fall, when I've lost myself?
I can't find beautiful words to say to you.
If you're going to tie me up,
if you're going to enslave me,
Don't you dare be gentle.
Your arms, your voice, your back, haunt me.
My dry ground is soaked by the rain.
I can't escape you;
you'll follow me wherever I know it so well I want to cry...
Your arms, your voice, your back, haunt me.
Your arms, your voice, your back, haunt me.
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I have also started doing strange things, thanks to new friends on MySpace. Thanks particularly to the Silkwormgirl
who got me interested again to listen to AM Radio; now I am listening to her weekly show The Zone, on New Zealand AccessRadio station in Wellington, and learn a lot about the arts down below while listening to very talented musicians and bands. You can have a look and hear a lot of interesting stuff by clicking on the Silkwormgirl picture just below. Welcome to New Zea-wonderland ! hehe
Below is a video from someone I had also the privilege to meet on MySpace, my friend Jing playing erhu in a concert (the name of the song is "The Grape Season").
Who I'd like to meet:
People who have the same interests for Asian music. People who want friendship with someone who will read and answer all their email
je vais en composer une en francais bientot!
laissez-moi savoir votre opignion.
merci de steph
hi friends,thanks for the add and support,i really appreciate it!
my name is steph from montreal, i am the creator of mystical soul
i am working on 3 albums,stay tuned loll
i got some great home made recordings for free on this widget!
rock on! and pls keep in touch.
i keep my fans intertained loll
thanks again for keeping indie music alive!
bonjour claude,justement je pensait a toi il y a quelques jours mdrr. ta surment recu mon msg telepathique, ou jai eu le votre,je te souhaite une bonne annee a toi et ta famille jai pas lacher la musique,jai beaucoup de plaisir a composer jai plusieurs nouvelles compositions que tu pourras ecouter bientot. steph
Every time that we write music... play an instrument... dance... act in a play... or work in some audio/video engineering process... Something is healing inside...
When we share it with friends... Something is healing all over...
comment vas-tu? Voilà c'est fait. J'ai assisté à l'euthanasie de ma chatte ce matin. Je dois admettre que ça m'a fais de la peine de la voir mourrir. Je ressens un grand vide chez moi présentement. :-( J'espère que vous vous portez bien. Sur ce, passez une excellente journée et à bientôt.
Comment vas-tu? Je me demandais si tu avais maintenant accès à internet. J'espère que toi et Charlotte allez bien et que vous appréciez beaucoup vos vacances. J'imagine que vous avez pris quelques photo interessantes?
De mon côté ça va mais dans les prochains jours je vais devoir faire euthanasier ma chatte parce qu'elle est malade et je ç me fais de la peine rien que d'y penser.
Mes leçons au erhu vont quand même très bien malgré que j'ai toujours certaines difficulés. J'ai commencé à apprendre des pièce en La et je dois dire que j'aime bien cette sonorité. Dernièrement, je me suis acheté une voiture, une Subaru Outback 2004 et suis très content de mon achat.
Sur ce, je vous souhaite à toi et Charlotte une excellente journée. J'imagine que vous serez bientôt de retour? Portez vous bien et à bientôt.
Salut Claude! Tu me parais faire un super de beau voyage... j'aime bien que tu nous permette de suivre votre quotidien avec toutes les photos sur FB... merci! Salutation à Charlotte! Passez une belle semaine! Prenez soins,
Dear Claude, Thank you very much for your beautiful card! I have been back from China for two weeks. Now it is the time to catch up things which have been left behind. I have concerts this coming Monday and Feb. 23 and 24 in Atlanta. Well, it seems that you cannot stop while living in USA! Wish you and your family a healthy, lucky, and happy year of the Rat!
yes, you guessed it claude ... 'still busy' with the album ! :):):) It was worth the wait though and the extra years work that I have put into it ! Four different vocalists and a little ERHU ( I test you to spot it ! ) Will let you know the release date as soon as I know ... right now am mixing down the final nine tracks ...
I will have a look at your erhu links claude and thank you very much for that ...
best wishes for this year to you and those you love ...
I wish I could speak French so that I can understand the script of the Chrismas song. Anyhow, it is a pleasant song and I like it. I'll go to the Consulate for the visa interview on 11th next month. If everything is ok, I would be in Seattle by the end of next month. I wish you and your family a Merry Chrismas and Happy New Year!
